Spring Training Hits Home Run

Baseball Fans In Florida Flocked To Games In Record Numbers This Season.

April 9, 2005|By Andrew Carter, Sentinel Staff Writer

Scattered among the numerous Boston Red Sox fans waiting outside the ticket window at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers were grills and coolers and stereos. Burgers sizzled and music blared as Todd Stephenson sat behind his desk, the Red Sox's director of Florida operations soaking in the atmosphere.

Red Sox tickets are a prized commodity, and they were even more prized this spring in Fort Myers, with Boston coming off its first World Series title since 1918.

Boston sold out all its home spring training games this year. The Red Sox drew 108,977 fans in 14 home games against major-league competition for a club-record average of 7,784 fans per game. On March 30 against Tampa Bay, Boston drew its largest single-game paid crowd ever of 8,056.

"I was an unbelievable spring," Stephenson said. "There was just quite a buzz."

That feeling spread throughout Florida. Fans flocked to locales such as Lakeland and Viera in record numbers.

Despite 24 games being canceled because of rain, the Grapefruit League set an all-time attendance record of 1,598,454. The number edged the previous record of 1,598,255, set in 2000 when 20 teams trained in Florida.

There are 18 teams in the Grapefruit League and none saw an attendance decrease from last season. Four teams set records: the Twins (also in Fort Myers), the Orioles (Fort Lauderdale), the Tigers (Lakeland) and the Nationals (Viera).

After seeing interest in his league reach a record high, Grapefruit League Executive Director David Cardwell is hoping to avoid losing teams to the Cactus League in Arizona. In late February, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano created the Arizona Baseball and Softball Commission, a group whose objectives include expanding the Cactus League.

"The chair of the commission, a former state senator, was quoted as saying, 'Well, I'm not looking to raid teams from Florida,'" Cardwell said. "Well, if there's a limited number of teams, and you're going to expand the Cactus League, there's only one place to go."

Research conducted by the Florida Sports Foundation in 2000 showed the economic impact of spring training on the state is about $450 million.

The Nationals had the greatest attendance increase. The team formerly known as the Expos saw a 17-percent increase from last season -- from 61,000 to 74,000. The Yankees reclaimed the overall attendance high from the Braves with a total of 152,655.

The numbers quashed any notion that baseball's steroid problems might keep fans away. It affirmed, too, what many Floridians already know: Few state's sporting events top pro baseball in March in Florida.

"It's such a tradition," Stephenson said. "Spring training is if you're local, shutting down work on Thursday to see a game that afternoon. It's about coming down in the spring to visit grandparents, or taking a vacation during spring break and catching a game.